Key audiences for reporting include:
- The decision-making body, who need regular reports on income, expenditure, future commitments and performance of the projects and activities funded against expected results
- The renewable energy business who may have set out specific reporting requirements in the community benefit agreement
- The wider community and other key stakeholders, who will wish to know how the community benefit support is operating, the impact it is delivering, and the results of any review or evaluation activity.
Such reporting can demonstrate transparency and accountability in how the community benefit package is managed, capture and celebrate the success and learning that it has brought about, and inform key stakeholders of any changes being made.
If the community benefits package is considerable, the publication of an annual report may be appropriate, although for smaller packages every three years or so may be deemed sufficient.You can find an example checklist of items to cover below.
Another option is to produce a newsletter more regularly, perhaps containing brief information on awards, the balance of funds remaining, selected case studies, and any other relevant updates. It is also worth bearing in mind any reporting commitments within the agreement between community and renewable energy business.
To enable robust reporting and feedback, those involved in administration will need to maintain thorough records on all applications received and awards made, including:
- Applicant details
- Proposals submitted (date received, amount of funding requested, and so on)
- Award decisions and the reasons for these
- Award amount, purpose, and any conditions
- Monitoring returns.
Once finalised, ideally following discussion by the decision-making group, the report should be widely circulated, for example:
- Published on the relevant website
- Sent to key stakeholders, including the renewable energy business, decision making group and community council (if there is one)
- Promoted via local newsletters and social media.
Some sample reports can be viewed from the following links:
